Some top retail chains are raising pay or offering other incentives to recruit workers as they struggle to staff the holiday shopping season, and one outcome may be a second year in a row of fewer stores opening up on Thanksgiving for pre-Black Friday shopping. Many stores didn’t open on Thanksgiving in 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

After opening on Thanksgiving in previous years, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target will all stay closed on the holiday this year, with Walmart describing it as “one way we're saying 'thank you' to our teams for their dedication and hard work this year.” Target said its decision to close was all about the customers, based on positive response when it did so last year—and announced it will make the Thanksgiving closure permanent.

Stores that had stayed closed on Thanksgiving prior to 2020 include:

• REI (which also stays closed on Black Friday—and gives its workers both days as a paid holiday) 
• Costco
• BJ’s Wholesale Club
• Sam’s Club
• Home Depot
• Menards
• Nordstrom
• Williams Sonoma
• The Container Store
• Michael’s

Other stores that will be closed on Thanksgiving include:

• Academy Sports + Outdoors
• Aldi
• Apple Store
• Barnes & Noble
• Belk
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• Bloomingdales
• Boscov’s
• Burlington
• Dick’s Sporting Goods
• DSW
• Foot Locker
• Hobby Lobby
• HomeGoods
• JCPenney
• Kohl’s
• Lowe’s Home Improvement
• Macy’s
• Marshalls
• Neiman Marcus
• Office Depot
• Office Max
• Pet Supplies Plus
• Petco
• Petsmart
• Simon Properties, which owns 168 malls and outlets, will keep its properties closed, though department stores with their own entrances can open
• TJ Maxx
• Trader Joe’s
• Ulta

Republished with permission from Daily Kos.